UPY 2024

UPY  Wide Angle - Third
'Jellyfish galore'
Oleg Gaponyuk

In March 2020, I flew to Palau for two weeks of diving. When I was there, the borders closed because of Covid-19, so I was able to fly back only after 3 months.
It was a good time. Dive sites where you could previously meet 50 people, I visited alone.
I have been to the jellyfish lake 4 times. Usually, a snorkeling session lasts 45 minutes due to the large number of tourists. But as I was alone, I could swim for 3-4 hours.
Before the first dive, the guide told me: swim to the center of the lake, there you will see jellyfish. In the center, I found only a dozen jellyfish and was upset.
The second time I took a drone with me and quickly flew around the entire lake. 2 million jellyfish, about which I read in Wikipedia, gathered in a small group near the shore at the far end of the lake, which was about 500 meters away.
I took the camera and swam. I had to work with fins for 20 minutes until I ended up in real jellyfish soup. That's where I shot this panorama.

Judge's comment: A positive story to come out of the pandemic has produced a very well composed split level panorama.
- Peter Rowlands